Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1887-05-01
MONTANA BEAVERS.
YELLOWSTONE PARK THE ANIMALS
REFUGE FROM TRAPPERS.
Some Rare Specimens Captured-Pelts OF
the Golden Beaver-Dams Built by the
Sagacious Little Anima1s.Origin of
'Beayer Lake."

the Golden Beaver-Dams Built by the
Sagacious Little Animals-Origin Of
"Beaver Lake,
"All signs fail in dry weather, but when
the beaver builds his cache high then look
out for billiards and blasts" So says a vet
eran COW puncher, who in the early days
made his living by trapping beavers in Mon
tana, and all admit that the veteran knows
what he is talking about. Late last fall the
beavers up this way began building high, and
sure enough the weather turned out cold, for
weeks blizzard is not done blowing yet, and
the snow is all the way from two to three feet
deep on level.
There can he no question that this whole
northwestern belt was many years ago a
great resort of beavers, for there are evil
dences still left of thousands upon thousands
of homes, each Of which must have contained
at some time one complete family. The early
French traders and Hudson Bay trappers
considered this favorite hunting ground for
all sorts of fur bearing animals, for nearly all
the Indian tribes in this latitude have tradi-
tions, or unwritten history, wherein they
bartered pelts and furs with the @palefaces
who came down from the north"
SOME RARE SPECIMENS.
There are more beaver now in Montana
than anywhere else in the United States. The
variety, too, is greater here, for the writer
has seen three distinct specimens, all Of which
were trapped within 100 miles of this point.
Besides the ordinary beaver Pegan Indian
killed not long ago on the Upper Marias river
female beaver, and upon investigating hel
hOr1Q fpi1n1 fnnI in fbp cQcho
two of which were white and two black. The
albino pair were smaller than the dark ones,
but they were indeed rarity, and most
beautiful objects to behold Another rarity
in the beaver line was found over on Milk
golden beaver, who possesses, / believe, the
choicest and rarest of furs. Although there
must have been a family to which this speci-
men belonged, yet only one was captured.
The Crow Indians have a number of bright,
rusty beaver skins, which they say were
captured on their reservation at the head Of
the Big Horn river. They describe the fur
when on the animal as possessing a most
beautiful sunshiny appearance, which leaves
no question in my mind but that the Grows
captured the pelts in question from the true
golden beaver. l have never heard Of the
species being caught outside of Siberia, but
here we certainly have them in Montana.
The greatest resort of beavers in the north
west is the head waters Of the Yellowstone
river, its tributaries and the Yellowstone
National park. Beaver lake, in the park, is q
wonderful spot. The complicated system of
dams built by the sagacious and industrious
little animal is not equaled on earth by the
finest of engineering work. They are hard
workers, and use judgment in choosing a
place to build and live, and they make the
dams with such patience and skill that q tor
rent which would tear away the strongest
and best constructed by man simply sweeps
over them without effect, and really leaves
them stronger than before, for instead Of
weakening the structure, the reservoir is
flied with debris, which is, in fact, just what
the beavers want. In choosing q place to
live, Beaver lake will show the good sense of
these little animals
ORIGIN OF BEAVER LAKE
To begin with, the lake itself is o lovely
sheet Of water, hemmed in by the famed
obsidian cliffs on one side and abrupt, lofty
mountains Oh the other. Any one with half
an eye can see there never was such a thing
rs Beaver lake in existence until the little
animals themselves went to work and
damned the lower end of the canyon, which
brought into creation that charming and
lovely sheet Of water. Dotting the lake in
hundreds Of places are little mounds, conical
and oval in shape. rising directly out of the
water. There are the homes of the families.
They consist of arched and interlocked will
lows, plastered thick with mud, which leaves
a covering about two or three feet which is a
sure protection against the cold of this climate
The entrances are all under water, small
crevices being left to give the necessary air.
In choosing place for a house they build far
out in the water away from land if possible,
for there they are safe from their hereditary
enemies, the bear, the puma, the gray wolf
and the mountain lion, which fairly swarm
throughout the park i'll countless numbers.
The beavers are pretty well hunted all over
Montana, but, like all the other animals ferB
nature up this way, they are naturally and
surely drifting over into the Yellowstone
National park, which seems to be about the
only haven Of safety left to them in all the
wide northwest. There they are protected by
saving laws. Still the pot hunters are ever
after them, and unless promptly checked will
destroy the remnant of wild and fur bearing
animals still left in our country Only last
week a pot hunter was caught setting beaver
traps on Gardiner river, which is in the park
limits. He was promptly elected and his
traps Observation-Disclosures Cor San Fran.
cisco Call.